First assessment of MHC diversity in wild Scottish red deer populations

Pérez-Espona, Sílvia; Goodall-Copestake, William Paul ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3586-9091; Savirina, Anna; Bobovikova, Jekaterina; Molina-Rubio, Carles; Pérez-Barbería, F. Javier. 2019 First assessment of MHC diversity in wild Scottish red deer populations. European Journal of Wildlife Research, 65 (2), 22. 10.1007/s10344-019-1254-x

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This is a post-peer-review, pre-copyedit version of an article published in European Journal of Wildlife Research. The final authenticated version is available online at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10344-019-1254-x
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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10344-019-1254-x

Abstract/Summary

Control and mitigation of disease in wild ungulate populations are one of the major challenges in wildlife management. Despite the importance of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) genes for immune response, assessment of diversity on these genes is still rare for European deer populations. Here, we conducted the first assessment of variation at the second exon of the MHC DRB in wild populations of Scottish highland red deer, the largest continuous population of red deer in Europe. Allelic diversity at these loci was high, with 25 alleles identified. Selection analyses indicated c. 22% of amino acids encoded under episodic positive selection. Patterns of MHC allelic distribution were not congruent with neutral population genetic structure (estimated with 16 nuclear microsatellite markers) in the study area, the latter showing a marked differentiation between populations located at either side of the Great Glen. This study represents a first step towards building an immunogenetic map of red deer populations across Scotland to aid future management strategies for this ecologically and economically important species.

Item Type:	Publication - Article
Digital Object Identifier (DOI):	10.1007/s10344-019-1254-x
ISSN:	1612-4642
Additional Keywords:	Cervus elaphus, Immunogenetics, Major histocompatibility complex, Population structure, Red deer, Wildlife management
Date made live:	14 Feb 2019 14:17 +0 (UTC)
URI:	https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/522265

Item Type:

Publication - Article

Digital Object Identifier (DOI):

10.1007/s10344-019-1254-x

ISSN:

1612-4642

Additional Keywords:

Cervus elaphus, Immunogenetics, Major histocompatibility complex, Population structure, Red deer, Wildlife management

Date made live:

14 Feb 2019 14:17 +0 (UTC)

URI:

https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/522265